Judge says US-based reporter defamed Haiti's PM

A federal judge in Florida has ruled that a Haitian-American journalist defamed Haiti's prime minister in reporting on the sale of a telecommunications company acquired by the Caribbean country's government.

Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe and South Florida businessman Patrice Baker sued Leo Joseph in Miami federal court in September over his reporting for the New York-based Haiti-Observateur.

U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro said in a Feb. 6 ruling that she agreed with Lamothe and Baker that Joseph had published false and malicious reports about Lamothe's role in the sale of Haitel.

Ungaro also prohibited Joseph from ever again writing about Lamothe or Baker in their professional, personal or political lives.